Hurricanes Katrina and Ike, and the BP oil spill, are just a few of the disasters that have wreaked havoc on the Gulf Coast community's economic stability and even more important -- the community's health and well-being.

Helping communities prepare and recover more quickly from disasters such as these -- natural or man-made -- is the primary focus of a recent alliance between seven leading medical centers, universities and public health institutions including MD Anderson Cancer Center. Supported by funds from the American Recovery and Reinvestment Act, the SECURE (Science, Education, Community United to Respond to Emergencies) consortium has plans under way.

Members of the consortium are combining their services and systems that are already in place to develop a systematic blueprint that will aid researchers and health care providers in addressing the many health concerns vulnerable communities face during and after a disaster.

"Currently, there is no unified system in place along the Gulf Coast that will enable vulnerable communities to keep moving forward and obtain the necessary health care needed when disasters occur," says Lovell Jones, Ph.D., director of the Center for Research on Minority Health and lead principal investigator of SECURE. "This is an ongoing problem that contributes to health disparities."

Leading the efforts of the consortium, the Center for Research on Minority Health in the Department of Health Disparities Research at MD Anderson has developed a disaster preparedness education program designed to engage local youth through training modules, workshops and activities that focus on human health and the environment with an emphasis on disaster preparedness.